THE CUBA REVIEW 



27 



7 feet and 800 to 1,000 of the plants can be 

 grown on an acre, which requires consid- 

 erable less cultivation and attention than 

 many other products." 



Tomatoes in Liverpool 



Houses which handle that vegetable state 

 that the market is unlimited and shipments 

 arriving in good condition find a ready 

 sale. The south of England and the Chan- 

 nel Islands supply a large quantity of these 

 tomatoes during the favorable portions of 

 the year, but during the winter and spring 

 large consignments are received principally 

 from the Canary Islands, and smaller lots 

 from Spain, Portugal and Algiers. In De- 

 cember the market is supplied with Canary 

 Island tomatoes, the last quotations on 

 them being $2.20 to $3.15 a bundle of 40 to 

 50 pounds. The tomatoes are packed in 

 light substantial boxes, 16 by 10 by 7% 

 inches, and four of these firmly bound to- 

 gether with iron strips constitute a bundle. 



The size of the tomatoes cannot com- 

 oare favorably with those on the American 

 market. They range from 2% to 3% 

 inches in diameter, are very solid and even 

 in shape, and have a fine flavor. 



Feed-Bearing Trees 



It has been found that a too rich soil 

 makes a growth of wood at the expense of 

 fruitage. But many growers have carried 

 the idea too far. While it is not desirable 

 to have fruit trees grow too fast, yet, after 

 they have made their principal growth and 

 have begun to bear, they should be fed. 

 Generally they are not, and they go on 

 year after year drawing out of the soil 

 some of the fertility, of which there was 

 not too great an amount in the first place. 

 This thought should be kept in mind — the 

 original amount of fertility should not be 

 decreased. On soils only moderately rich 

 it is necessary to keep up the supply of 

 fertility. What the crop of fruit takes off 

 should go back each year in the form either 

 of barnyard manure or of chemical ferti- 

 lizers. — Caiman's Rural World. 



Growing Apples in Cuba 



Said a Cuban to a New York Times rep- 

 resentative recently : "It had always seemed 

 to a friend of mine that apples should be 

 able to grow and bear fruit in Cuba and 

 in the course of several years he must have 

 planted thousands of pips in his plantation 

 in the mountains. A few of them would 

 come up, struggle along for a month or 

 two, and die. 



"At last one hardy little sapling lived 

 through an entire year. If a northern tree 

 is able to do that in the tropics it is certain 



to continue growing. The absence of a 

 winter season when it should be semi- 

 dormant is what usually kills it, but a few 

 do get acclimated. 



"This apple tree grew slowly for seven 

 years, but only attained a hight of nine 

 feet. It would shed its leaves in the au- 

 tumn, and put out a few blossoms in the 

 early spring. The latter, however, would 

 always fall before fruit could be developed. 



"My friend was in despair until the 

 eighth year, when he was delighted to notice 

 six real apples on the stunted tree. He 

 watched and tended them as though they 

 had been the most valuable things in the 

 world. He built a wind guard to prevent 

 the little fruit from being blown off, and 

 watered the tree every morning when the 

 weather was dry. 



"In spite of his care two of the apples 

 withered and fell in June ; three others 

 followed in July, and the beginning of Au- 

 gust found him with only one remaining 

 on the tree. 



"But he was not altogether disappointed. 

 The last one actually ripened. Think of 

 it ! An apple grown in the tropics ! It 

 was small, wizened and sour, but the pluck- 

 ing and eating of it was made into a reg- 

 ular ceremony. All his friends were in- 

 vited, and I know that my share of the 

 fruit consisted of a piece about the size of 

 my thumbnail. But it was a Cuban apple, 

 and I thought I had never tasted anything 

 half so good." 



California Says, Grow Grapefruit 



California Fruit Grower, Los Angeles 



At the present time we are credibly in- 

 formed that individuals all through the 

 country west as far as the Mississippi 

 River, if not farther, are receiving grape- 

 fruit from Florida by the box at $5 deliv- 

 ered. There is big money in grapefruit at 

 that price. Until recently the consumption 

 of this fruit was moderate. But now the 

 consumption of grapefruit all over the 

 country is growing more rapidly than that 

 of perhaps any other species of fruit. There 

 is a pretty broad market for grapefruit 

 now, and this demand will increase 

 steadily. 



It says also that the consumption of 

 grapefruit is cutting into the consumption 

 of oranges at just about an equal pace with 

 the increase in the use of the grapefruit. 

 All through the East for a great many 

 years fruit has formed a considerable item 

 in the breakfast of the people. Now, at 

 eastern hotels of the first class you find the 

 orange replaced at the morning meal by the 

 grapefruit at all the principal hotels, and 

 the same is true in private houses where 

 luxuries are indulged in, it becoming an 

 almost universal habit to serve this species 

 of citrus fruit at breakfast to the exclusion 



